Montee Ball gets first-team snaps with Broncos

Denver Broncos head coach John Fox insists he hasn’t lost faith in running back Ronnie Hillman after three fumbles in two games.

However, Fox’s decisions as to who gets first-team reps in practice may tell a different story.

According to Mike Klis of the Denver Post, it was Montee Ball, not Hillman, that received the first-team carries for the Broncos in practice on Monday. Hillman meanwhile was relegated to the old school treatment of carrying a football around with him wherever he went.

Hillman fumbled twice, losing one, in the Broncos’ second preseason game in Seattle two weeks ago. He coughed up the ball again against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. The fumble was returned for a touchdown by Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree. Hillman had carried six times for 34 yards before losing the fumbling and finding a seat on the bench.

Hillman is a talented runner but constantly putting the ball on the turf will quickly outweigh the benefits of having him on the field. Perhaps Ball’s opportunity to run with the first-team will help drive home that point even more.

The awesome feeling the Denver Donkey fans gave me when they collectively celebrated the win before the game was over…and then collectively deflated into silence as we forced our will on your city. Waa waa waa…. so close!! Had to suck watching the great Joe Flacco throw bombs all over your home field as he showed Payton Manning how to win a playoff game when everything’s on the line. Mmm good times. Thanks for doing your part donkey fans…the win wouldn’t have been as sweet without you!

Everyone is so caught up in seeing what their new toy can do that they forget their old toy — Knowshon Moreno. He played very well at the end of last year and it wasn’t a coincidence that Baltimore started to come back in the playoff game right as soon as Moreno exited with an injury…or maybe I’m just biased because I picked him up on my fantasy team.